Category: obey God

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 57-58

Poetry Reading: Psalm 87

New Testament Reading: James 1

The last few chapters of Isaiah have been full of day brighteners including promises of a Messiah with an everlasting reign and abundant pardon and forgiveness. Today, we start with some well deserved reminders that the LORD does chastise the disobedient. While His mercies are great, as recipients of that, He calls us to obedience for His glory. And sometimes, direct communication is just what we need. I found it quite effective in verse 3 when my attention was caught by,

“But come here, you sons of a sorceress,

Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute!”

 New American Standard Bible (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 2020), Is 57:3.

In fact, the exclamation point alone caught my eye since they aren’t nearly as common in the Bible as they are in some of my written communications!!!

Does it seem harsh? Well, umm…let’s see. These people are literally generations deep into a smorgasbord of pagan/idolatrous practices like we see in verses 5-6: worshipping false Gods through things like infant sacrifice “slaying of children” to Molech, dark caves and clefts of rock often used for pagan superstitious practices, and lusting toward tree idols as the Assyrians did. While it sounds so foreign and wrong, it doesn’t take too much work to see a parallel to our contemporary society. We are a nation full of pagan practices, and while hanging out in dark caves might not be our thing, we are entrenched in ungodly customs and superstitions that are so infiltrated we don’t even always recognize them. Slaying of children brings one practice to mind against which thankfully some states like my own in Indiana have put some new laws in place recently, and we are also a people truly idolizing many earthly things as Philippians 3:19 tells us.

However, as always, it seems that there is comfort to be found for the contrite and humble before God as Isaiah 57:15-16 says.  And that comfort is contrasted to the never ending turmoil of the waves symbolizing the wicked. I generally think of waves as peaceful things. The type of noise people want on white noise machines, the type of view we use for meditations and/or swirling about behind worship songs on the projector screens, but the waves themselves never really do get a rest, do they? The waves are full of muck and mire. Always crashing and tossing amidst turmoil causing erosion and destruction in some cases. Makes me get motion sickness just picturing that as my lot in life. It sounds awful to be stuck as a “wave”, and in turn, worth reading this chapter of rebuke and seeking to be contrite in heart.

The next chapter of Isaiah 58 made me think of work when I noticed a few repeated words of “if” and “then”. As an occupational therapist, some of the children I work with have a variety of behavioral and developmental challenges, autism, sensory processing dysfunction, etc. A technique that works with some children struggling to make sense of information and attend to a task is a simple cue of “First this, Then this”.  We have signs up in our clinic with “first” and “then” labels and pictures choices they can select, and sometimes we just use the words themselves.  Many times a day I say things like “first wash hands, then play” or “first shoes, then run”. It helps kids direct attention and understand what to do next, and it works far better than most adult ramblings and attempts to verbally rationalize the request or directions. A simple directive communicated in a way they understand, and often a preferred “then” can really help some people understand the task before them. Isaiah 58 reminded me of this.  We don’t need a rationalization or justification from God for his directions to us. And in this chapter, He mentions some of His “firsts”:

• care for the hungry
• provide shelter for the wanderer
• satisfy the oppressed
• stop malicious talk and arguing
• stop pointing fingers
• stop doing as you please!

It is really important to intentionally consider what the LORD’s firsts are sometimes because unfortunately they are in stark contrast to what the world’s noise tells us. I see no firsts commanding the American dream, “me time”, building wealth, being a busy beaver, living vacation to vacation, or “you do you”. In fact, we are flat out told the opposite.  “Stop doing as you please” is simply not a cultural norm in America, so knowing that a Biblical worldview is in contrast to the worldview so prevalent around us is important.

Because THEN. . .

Then your light will rise in darkness,

And your gloom will become like midday.

 “And the Lord will continually guide you,

And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

“Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the breach,

The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

 New American Standard Bible (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 2020), Is 58:10–12.

-Jennifer Hall

Reflection Questions:

1. What conviction might you find in reading Isaiah 57 as you consider your nation? your church family? you personally?

2. Which of God’s “firsts” might you need to emphasize in your life?

3. Which of your “firsts” might you need to deemphasize?